


Bewitched

by LittleDarlingXOX



Series: JayTim Shorts [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Jason-Centric, M/M, ptsd Jason, superstitious Jason, tim is a good boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 21:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13085280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDarlingXOX/pseuds/LittleDarlingXOX
Summary: Jason is superstitious and Tim amuses him.





	Bewitched

When it first occurred, Tim thought that it was just Jason being a cheesy romantic, imitating something that he picked up from a movie. He still had bruises from that night in the living room after they watched Dirty Dancing.

They were up on a warehouse rooftop after a long night of patrol, taking in the panoramic view of Gotham as the sun rose up between the buildings. Tim’s mask was removed, letting the sweat that always gathered on his face and bangs evaporate in the cool breeze. Jason had removed his helmet and mask as well, since there was no risk of being seen at this hour of morning.

“Hold still,” Jason commanded, and Tim obediently stilled, glancing at Jason from the corner of one eye. Jason’s hand came into view and then closer, swiping at his cheek.

“Gotcha!” He declared, triumphantly. Tim, now allowed to move freely, turned to see Jason holding out an eyelash towards him. 

“Oh, I’m saved,” Tim responded with mock relief. “However can I thank you?”

“Make a wish, Babybird. Then blow it away.” Said Jason. 

Tim just shook his head, turning back towards the skyline that was now a burnt orange color, sunlight filtering between the skyscrapers. Jason nudged his shoulder with his own. “C’mon, it’s good luck!”

“You don’t really believe in that kind of stuff, do you?”

Without his mask on, Tim was able to witness every muscle movement as Jason’s smile turned to a grimace. “Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking to,  _ Mr. Scientific Method _ .”

“Oh, c’mon, Jason! Think about it!” argued Tim. “If I made a wish every time an eyelash fell on my face there’s no way it’s luck. More like… probability.”

“Right, well maybe you didn’t need good luck growing up like you did, with rich parents and a freakishly smart brain, but I always took whatever luck I could get my hands on. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this… you know what, nevermind.”

Jason blew the eyelash off his pointer finger and stood up, he made way towards the rooftop access doors. Tim sat still, imagining the eyelash spiraling down towards the ground. His little bit of good luck vanishing in the wind. 

Tim had always thought of rabbits feet, four leaf clovers, and shooting stars as stupid, idealistic, notions. The thought that you could receive luck from some object that you ultimately had no control over was ridiculous. The more that Tim thought of it now though, Jason did seem like the type who would want to believe in good luck charms, someone who carried a little something in his pocket to protect himself from all the bad in this world. Jason Todd, especially, could use all the good luck and protection he could get. 

So Tim decided he would humor his boyfriend. From then on, if an eyelash fell on his cheek, he would allow Jason to pick it up and make a silent wish on it. Some nights, when they couldn’t sleep,  Jason and Tim would lay on the roof of the Gotham City observatory and watch for shooting stars. They had yet to witness one, but the late night talks they had on that rooftop more than made up for it. 

It was a week before Jason’s birthday and Tim was at the manor brainstorming with Dick about possible presents. They were camped out in the study.  Tim sat, knees drawn up with a legal pad on his lap, crumpled balls of paper scattered around him. Dick was in the armchair next to him, staring intently up at the ceiling. Dick sighed, picked up three of the discarded paper balls and started juggling them. 

“This is hopeless. It’s official, I’m a horrible boyfriend.” Tim declared. “Jason should be the easiest person to shop for. I could give him two double cheeseburgers as a birthday present and he’d love me.”

“‘Cept that wouldn’t be a thoughtful gesture.” Dick pointed out without looking at him. 

“Maybe I should just get him another gun.”

Dick stopped juggling, catching the ball in the air with a telltale crunch, only to point a finger at Tim. “Uh-uh. Don’t be an enabler. Remember we’re trying to cut down on the killing and horrific maiming. Don’t loosen your morals just because you’re a terrible brainstormer.”

Tim rolled his eyes and retorted. “Bruce gave Damian throwing stars for his birthday last year.”  

Dick shrugged and started juggling again. “So we’re all a work in progress. Trust me, though. Jason’s a sentimental guy. When he was a kid he used to collect all kinds of things: books, coins, baseball cards… Just give him something from the heart and he’ll love you for it.”

“Do you think he would mind if I went looking in his old room? I mean… would that be an invasion of privacy?”

“I won’t tell him.” Dick winked at him.

Tim looked both ways down the hallway before he cracked open the door to Jason’s old room. 

Jason hardly ever came in here. Even when he stayed at the manor, he much preferred to have Alfred open up another room for him. Still, it wasn’t dusty like a room that hadn’t been used for upwards of ten years would be. Alfred regularly dusted and changed the sheets. It kept the room looking fresh and clean at all times. Like Jason had never left. 

It took a bit of digging until Tim found a dented shoebox stuffed in the back of Jason’s closet. Inside were a mix of knick-knacks. Tim was especially intrigued by the amount of old coins that Jason had collected. He had everything from silver dollars and old Francs, to commonplace European and American coinage, to subway tokens and arcade coins. He was also surprised by the sheer amount he’d found in his birth year: 1983. Tim pocketed a handful of them, half a thought forming in his head. 

After dinner on his birthday, Jason took the small box Tim handed him. He flashed Tim a grin before tearing through the wrapping paper and popping the lid off the box. Tim held his breath as Jason stared at the contents inside the box. 

“Do you like it?” he asked finally. “I remembered it from back when I was looking up superstitions to make sure you weren’t just going insane when I caught you throwing salt at people during dinner. One item on the list said that it’s considered good luck to carry a coin minted with your birth year, so I made it into a necklace. Obviously, you get two coins… one of them is from your old collection back at the manor. The other is some kind of Hungarian currency I took from my dad’s stash. It  was the only one I could find with the year you came back…”

“It’s perfect.” Jason pulled him forward into a kiss. He broke away long enough to put the chain around his neck and then he was dragging Tim toward the bedroom, the two coins on his necklace clinking together.

* * *

 

It was a few months later when another charm was added to Jason’s necklace, a small peridot gem, to help his chakras flow. Now, Tim was far from a hippy, but Bruce did teach Tim that meditation was just as important as physical exercise. Tim knew about the chakras of the body, for what little the spiritual garble was worth. 

It was the middle of the night when Tim once again woke to the squeaking of bedsprings as Jason sat on the edge of their bed, skin sweaty in the moonlight and shaking from chills and bad memories alike. 

“Jason.” Tim touched Jason’s shoulder but Jason flinched away from his touch violently, with a barely suppressed cry. 

He held up a shaking hand. “Not yet, Tim. Just— just gimme a moment.”

Tim waited in patient silence until Jason’s shaking decreased to the occasional tremor and he slid back under the covers. Tim rubbed Jason’s back soothingly as Jason burrowed into him, surrounding them in a bubble of blankets and body heat. Once again, Tim wished there was something he could do to protect Jason from his own subconscious and then realized there might be. 

He knew that some cultures associated certain stones with spiritual healing. Peridot, which just so happened to be Jason’s birthstone, is associated with the heart chakra,  where the emotions of unconditional love, forgiveness, and trust are centered. Tim bought the stone at a small shop that burned way too much incense to be healthy. The shop owner told him peridot can assist in letting go of the past and help release feelings of anger, hate, and fear. Tim thought, if anyone needed assistance in that, it was Jason. But, Tim also thought, that if Jason could let go of some of these feelings then perhaps he would have fewer nightmares. 

It was worth a shot.

And so it was added onto Jason’s necklace, next to the two coins. He never knew if it helped or not, Jason never talked about his nightmares. But, somewhere along the way, in between eyelash wishes, shooting stars, superstitions and charms, Jason had made Tim a more hopeful person. He’d taught Tim to believe in the things he couldn’t see, to hope for the future, and, most importantly, to live in the moment.

“I never told you that I found another good luck charm.” Jason said one night as they were staring up at the night sky. “Wanna know what it is?”

“Ugh, if you try to get me to buy a goldfish again, let me just say it isn’t happening,” stated Tim. “I don’t think it counts as good luck if the goldfish dies on the first day.”

Jason laughed and Tim could feel the vibrations as he leaned back against his chest. “No, no. It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” asked Tim, looking up at him.

“You.” Jason declared with a smile. “The only good luck charm I’ll ever need.”


End file.
